Paper cutter for paper towel dispensers



Sept. 17, 1963 G. w. WYANT PAPER CUTTER FOR PAPER TOWEL DISPENSERS FiledMay 18, 1960 United States Patent 3,104,043 PAPER CUTTER FOR PAPER TOWELDISPENSERS Gerald W. Wyant, 4343 Mayfair Ava, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaFiled May 18, 1960, Ser. No. 30,028

Claims priority, application Canada May 19, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 225--51)This invention relates to paper cutters and particularly to papercutters incorporated in paper towel dispensers in which the paper towelis held firmly against unwinding from its roll 'while a length of towelis being cut off at the dispensing outlet.

The invention consists essentially in the provision of a pivoted cuttingbar which presents no interference with the paper towel as it is drawndownwards out of the dispenser but on the towel being drawn up againstthe cutting bar for cutting off, the cutting bar will pivot and hold thepaper towel firmly against the upper portion of the dispenser outletwhile the towel is being cut across the lower cutting edge of thecutting bar.

The object of the invention is to provide a cutting bar for paper toweldispensers which will hold the towel firmly against unwinding from itsroll while a length of towel is being cut off.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cutting bar which willnot interfere with the operation of pulling a length of paper toweldownwards through the dispenser outlet.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby softtissue towelling can be cut evenly without pulling or distorting thesoft tissue as it comes off the roll in a towel dispenser.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a paper towel dispenser and showing aportion of towel hanging from the dispenser.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of FIG. 1 showing a roll ofpaper towel in the dispenser with the towel threaded through thedispenser outlet.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 andshowing the paper towel threaded through the dispenser outlet as in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the free end of the papertowel pulled up against the pivoted cutting bar with the cutting barholding the towel firmly against the top inner lip of the dispenseroutlet.

Referring to the drawings, the paper towel dispenser may be of anyconvenient shape or size and is here shown as having a front wall 5,side walls 6 and a rear wall 7. The rear wall 7 is secured by spotwelding or other means against the flanged extensions 8 of the sidewalls 6. The front wall is cut off at 9 to provide an opening 10extending across the full width of the dispenser. The single sheet ofmetal forming the rear wall 7 is bent forwardly to provide the slopingbottom wall 11 and is then bent downwardly to form the rear wall 12 ofthe towel dispensing throat 13 which is spaced rearwardly from the planeof the front wall 5.

A cover 14 for the towel dispenser is hinged at 15 to the rear wall 7,and a lug 16, secured to the rear surface of the front wall 5, projectsupwards through a slot 17 in the cover. This lug 16 has an aperture 18to receive a padlock or other device for locking the cover in place.

A cutter bar 19 is in the form of a flat plate having its bottomhorizontal edge serrated at 20. The cutter bar 19 is supported by thepins 21, welded to its rear surface with the pins 21 projecting throughthe side walls 6 to support the cutter bar in a vertical plane flushwith the inner surface of the front wall 5. The pins 21 are located onthe bar 19 at a height slightly more than half the vertical height ofthe bar, so that the bar is overbalanced with the weight of that portionof the bar below the pins 21 greater than that of the bar above thepins. This overbalance of the bar 19 ensures that the bar will hangvertical as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. When the cutter bar 19 hangevertical in the position shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, it forms the frontwall of the towel dispensing throat 13 at a distance spaced from thewall 12 as to offer no interference with the towel as it is pulled downthrough the throat.

The top edge 22 of the cutter bar .19 is prevented from pivotingforwardly by contact :with the lower inner surface of the front wall 5,but is free to pivot rearwardly to the limit of the bend 23 at theintersection of the bottom wall 11 with the rear wall 12 of the toweldispensing throat 13, the bend 23 acting as a stop for the bar 19.

The roll of paper towelling 24 is supported on the two tube rollers 25which in turn are supported by the rods 26, mounted between the sidewalls 6 of the dispenser. The free end 27 of the roll of paper towelling24- is passed over the roller 25 adjacent the front wall 5 and thencedown through the towel dispensing throat 13.

The rear wall 12 of the dispensing throat 13 is provided with avertically disposed slot 28, and the cutter bar 19 has a verticallydisposed slot 29'. The slots 28 and 29 overlay each other and permit theend 27 of the towel to be finger gripped back and front and pulled downthrough the throat 13.

In the operation of the towel dispenser above described, the end 27 ofthe towel is first threaded down through the throat 13 and, when asufficient length of towel has been drawn down through the throat, thetowel is given an upward pull against the lower half of the cutter bar19. This has the effect of pivoting the cutter bar about its pivotmounting pins 21, forcing the upper half of the cutter bar rearwardly topinch the paper towel between it and the bend 23, as shown in FIGURE 4.Further upwards and sideways pull on the paper towel causes the towel tobe out along the serrated edge 20 of the cutter bar 19. After the towelhas been cut, the pressure on the bar 19 is released and the barimmediately pivots back into the vertical position, leaving sufficienttowel in the throat 13 so that it can be finger gripped and pulled downthrough the throat. By holding the paper towel firmly between the cutterbar 19 and the bend 23, across the full width of the towel, the towelbetween the cutter bar and the roll 24 will retain a proper degree oftension.

hTe above described device has proved particularly suitable for thedispensing of soft multi-layer tissue which normally cannot withstandeven a slight degree of pulling. The soft multi-layer tissue, whenpinched between the upper half of the cutter bar 19 and the bend 23, isheld with sufiicient pressure so that there is little or no stretch ofthe tissue between the line of pinch and the cutting edge 20, with theresult that the tissue can be cut neat and clean.

What I claim is:

1. A paper towel dispensing cabinet having a vertically disposed toweldispensing throat, the said cabinet having a bottom wall bent downwardlyinto a vertical plane adjacent the front of the cabinet to form the rearwall of the cabinet dispensing throat, and having a front vertical wallwhose lower edge is located adjacent to and spaced above and forwardlyof the bend in the bottom Wall of the cabinet, and a cutter barextendingg below the lower horizontal edge of the said front wall andforming the front wall of the cabinet dispensing throat, the said cutterbar being pivotally mounted in a plane parallel with the inner facingsurface of the front vertical Wall of the cabinet and being biasweighted to maintain a normally vertical front Wall position of thedispensing throat and maintain contact with and form a downwardextension of the front wall of the cabinet, the said cutter bar takingup a pivotal position to hold the towel being dispensed against the bendof the bottom Wall of the cabinet when a length of towel is being cutagainst the cutter bar.

2. A paper towel dispensing cabinet as set forth in claim 1, in whichthe top horizontal edge of the cutter bar extends above the lower edgeof the cabinet front wall to close the front of the cabinet anddispensing throat when the said cutter bar is in the vertical position.

3. A paper towel dispenser cabinet, the said cabinet having a pair ofside Walls, a front vertical wall and a bottom horizontal wall, the saidbottom horizontal Wall having a forward portion thereof bent downwardlyinto a plane parallel with and spaced reanwardly of the said frontvertical wall, the lower horizontal edge of the said front vertical wallbeing spaced slightly above the bend in the said bottom wall, and acutter bar pivotally mounted in the said side walls in a plane parallelwith the inner facing surface of the said front vertical wall and beingbias eighted to maintain a normally vertical position and having anupper horizontal portion of its surface in contact with the inner faceof the lower horizontal portion of the said front vertical wall, thesaid cutter bar and the bent over portion of the said bottom walltogether forming a towel dispensing throat for the cabinet, the saidcutter bar taking up a pivotal position to hold the towel beingdispensed through the throat of the cabinet against the bend of the saidbottom wall when a length of towel is being out against the bottomhorizontal edge of the cutter bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS496,754 Streeter May 2, 1893 1,008,192 Olin Nov. 7, 19 1 1,131,591 BakerMar. 9, 1915 1,515,238 Baker Nov. 11, 1924 2,132,177 Mezoif Oct. 4, 19382,138,338 Casasco Nov. 29, 1938 2,177,430 Greisler Oct. 24, 19392,746,546 Taylor May 22, 1956 3,040,943 Bump June 26, 1962

1. A PAPER TOWEL DISPENSING CABINET HAVING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED TOWELDISPENSING THROAT, THE SAID CABINET HAVING A BOTTOM WALL BENT DOWNWARDLYINTO A VERTICAL PLANE ADJACENT THE FRONT OF THE CABINET TO FORM THE REARWALL OF THE CABINET DISPENSING THROAT, AND HAVING A FRONT VERTICAL WALLWHOSE LOWER EDGE IS LOCATED ADJACENT TO AND SPACED ABOVE AND FORWARDLYOF THE BEND IN THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE CABINET, AND A CUTTER BAREXTENDING BELOW THE LOWER HORIZONTAL EDGE OF THE SAID FRONT WALL ANDFORMING THE FRONT WALL OF THE CABINET DISPENSING THROAT, THE SAID CUTTERBAR BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN A PLANE PARALLEL WITH THE INNER FACINGSURFACE OF THE FRONT VERTICAL WALL OF THE CABINET AND BEING BIASWEIGHTED TO MAINTAIN A NORMALLY VERTICAL FRONT WALL POSITION OF THEDISPENSING THROAT AND MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH AND FORM A DOWNWARDEXTENSION OF THE FRONT WALL OF THE CABINET, THE SAID CUTTER BAR TAKINGUP A PIVOTAL POSITION TO HOLD THE TOWEL BEING DISPENSED AGAINST THE BENDOF THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE CABINET WHEN A LENGTH OF TOWEL IS BEING CUTAGAINST THE CUTTER BAR.